East Palestine, United States – The Norfolk Southern train line runs right through East Palestine, Ohio, stopping cars and pick-up trucks on their way into town at the railway crossing. It can be a long wait, as train car after train car, some carrying toxic chemicals, roll past the clanking railroad crossing sign. The village, home to fewer than 5,000 people, was decorated with American flags for the upcoming Independence Day celebrations when I arrived there in late June.
Morgan Parker laughed as I paused my interview to wait for the rumbling to pass. “I don’t even notice it any more,” the longtime resident said of the noise. But the lingering impact of a massive train derailment that happened nearby on the evening of February 3, 2023, is something she thinks about constantly.
